All Forum Posts by: Jane S.

Explain to cold callers your company has a requirement that in order to see the property applicants must submit completed on line applications, one for each occupant over age 18, and do they have pets? How many, ask for more info. You can disqualify them for submitting incomplete application. I have had people call who have 2 or 3 big dogs, the reason they are calling is because no one else will rent to them. Also "we need to move tomorrow" is a BIG red flag. Sometimes they get all nasty because I'm asking them to do something. Door knockers are the worst. They have no plan, no funds, no car, just slouching through the neighborhood ...

He's a SQUATTER do you like having that going on in YOUR ASSET??? She's a THIEF taking valuable square footage away from you. What will you do when he damages YOUR ASSET??? You will have NO RECOURSE!

OMG

good luck hiring a PM

I'm seriously considering wholesaling, since there are no cash flowing SFRs in my market, and I dont want to risk having a misadventure like this with an OOS investment. Seems like once you hire a PM you are at their mercy, and they hire the same people who work for apartment complexes and dont show up to fix leaky toilets that tenants need fixed, broken stoves, etc. My most recent rental took 3 weeks to completely make rent ready, with me doing a lot of it, but that was because none of my preferred contractors were available timely due to UNOWAT. The security deposit from previous tenants who did damage covered most of the vacancy loss. But it was max aggro.

If you are renting to a dog, forget putting in grass. Plus the tenants won't keep it watered. Here in the denver-springs area the weather is a grass killer. Xeriscape is the best decision other than astroturf and can be even more attractive. Besides, kids don't play outside any more. I am coming to the end of a grass repair nightmare, the previous tenants did not activate the auto sprinkler as lease required and their dogs killed most of the grass in one back section. They never walked the dogs which i think is abusive. Current new tenants have a dog that they chain outside, in the worst damaged area, and in the heat, which I have given up on trying to repair, and when they move I will install a nice stone arrangement, perhaps with a small crabapple. I love the property and plan to hold it. They are removing the poops pretty regular. She said there is a dog run at the nearby park that they go to. I have had dogs all my life, and a good couple of walks per day clears their GI tract. The urine is the killer. Leaving a dog out in heat means more water drunk means more urine output.

thanks anthony thats a good suggestion but the neighbor said its an ongoing problem. Previous tenants never complained. Handyman installed dishwasher and got into the area under sink and saw not one spider. Tenant refused to collect spiders to show me. Just needs a jar with a tight lid. They agreed to get an exterminator in, i have yet to hear about it. Wife puts everything in husbands hands and he is never home, a workaholic. He agreed to pay half of initial fee. that was a week ago.

Yah it's always my fault. Every rental is in pristine sparkling condition, why am I defending? I'm getting premium rent and perfect on time payments from all my tenants. My properties are in prime locations for each current rental market. I just wish I had funds to purchase more but can't compete with 420, offshore, OO etc. Tenants all have an obsession with being homeowners, and they sign the lease with almost no questions (wanted a pool in tiny backyard, wanted a trampoline insurance won't cover, wanted 14-month lease... ) I just finished installing a brand new whirlpool dishwasher with safety controls on the top of the door so kids cant reach, think i got a thank you? Also the contractor said the wife tenant was "bitchy", not that he cared. Appreciate your comments, especially about letting tenants do what they want. In that case is your lease one page simply stating the payment terms & lease length? I'd like to try it.

Why do tenants try to just do what they want even if it's forbidden by the lease they signed and which they should read once in a while? Actually it's kind of entertaining because they have signed so many leases they get confused about the terms they agreed to in mine. Recently a woman complained about how she hurt her shoulder moving a couch out of the garage when (she thought) it would have been OK to leave it there. Of course she blamed me. I referred her to the lease para which strictly forbids any furniture being stored in garage. (That's the beginning of a hoard.) Another tenant put mattresses in the garage that a few of her many relatives died in. I was so glad when they moved out. "I'm not a hoarder!" I've heard it a few times. When they yell this, they probably are. One tenant said I "used up" my 4 visits for the year. She spent about an hour looking for that in her lease with me. I would never put that in a lease. It's my property and I can visit (with 24 hour notice) any time. Actually I don't like to visit. Every rented property ends up looking like a tornado blew through. They swear they don't have much stuff, but what is the purpose of a collection of 8 (ugly) couches? Remember the ugly couch website?  How about 6 big jars of peanut butter? Guess I found out what her kids eat ... They refuse to keep trash cans in garage, because they tried it and it stunk. I bit my tongue about how their dog poop was most certainly the reason ... as well as the flies ... I need to stop renting to dog owners. Never allowed cats. Especially if the property has /had a nice lawn. 

We agreed to split cost of bug service. I was never informed by previous tenants or neighbors, but one of the neighbors told new tenants there was a black widow swarm and had been for years, i chatted with her & she never told me. That is really strange, cuz I never saw a single spider in all the hours & days I spent upgrading after previous tenants vacated. now they are all over the place, i guess ... bug removal is going in the lease now, for sure, as a tenant requirement, it's too vague just to require them keeping property clean and free of trash. Their opinion of "clean" is a lot different from mine. ha

The large family in one of my rentals is freaking out about black widow spiders, but I had never seen a spider, a web, or any infestation in the house before they moved in. I advised them to spray all around the foundation and wherever there might be a way for spiders to get in. However spiders love flies, and tenants dog poop is sitting out in the yard, uncollected, so maybe that has something to do with spiders coming around. The lease requires tenants to keep property in clean condition ... yet they expect me to pay for exterminator ... I have paid for a number of updates but it seems to me the dog poop needs to be better disposed of. And they are responsible to deal with bugs etc. What do you think? I have spiders at my house, they seem pretty harmless.